Posted By Tom Kensler On October 18, 2013 @ 10:35 am In College Sports,Colorado State University,Football,Mountain West Conference,University of Wyoming | No Comments

CSU Rams

With a special thanks to the sports information directors at the respective schools, here is my weekly installment of 10 things you may not know — about Saturday’s “Border War” rivalry game between Colorado State and Wyoming.

1. Wyoming lists Saturday’s game as the 105th meeting, while Colorado State calls it the 104th meeting. The difference is, Wyoming includes the first game, on Nov. 30, 1899, while CSU does not count it because it was a forfeit victory — even though it was a win for CSU. Wyoming says it chooses to include that 1899 meeting because research shows that the game did indeed start before a disagreement led to a forfeit.

2. The Bronze Boot traveling trophy that goes to the winner was an actual military boot worn by CSU alumnus Dan Romero in Vietnam. The Bronze Boot trophy dates to 1968.

3. Wyoming trails in the “Border War” series 44-55-5 (by its count) but leads in the series since the end of World War II by a 39-28 margin — including victories in the past four meetings. Wyoming last won five straight in the series from 1969-73.

4. Because of scheduling issues resulting from the expansion of the Mountain West Conference, the Border War series is being played in Laramie for the second year in a row. That last happened in 1963 and 1964.

5. With a victory Saturday, Wyoming would improve to 3-0 in Mountain West play. The last time Wyoming won its first three conference games was 1998 — the final year in the Western Athletic Conference for both Wyoming and CSU.

6. Wyoming has eight starters (and a total of 22 players on its roster) who played high school football in the state of Colorado. CSU does not have a player on its roster that hails from the state of Wyoming.

7. Colorado State co-defensive coordinator Marty English spent nine seasons on the Wyoming staff before being hired by newly hired CSU coach Jim McElwain prior to the 2012 season.

8. The respective head coaches, CSU’s McElwain and Wyoming’s Dave Christensen, served together on the Eastern Washington staff when Christensen was a grad assistant in 1986 and ’87. McElwain was an assistant at his alma mater from 1985-94.

9. Wyoming, led by junior quarterback Brett Smith, ranks 10th nationally in total offense. Colorado State is No. 106 (among 123 teams) in total defense.

10. In last year’s meeting, Colorado State scored on its first offensive play when wide receiver Thomas Coffman took a Conner Smith pass 75 yards. Wyoming ultimately prevailed 45-31.

Article printed from The Field House: http://blogs.denverpost.com/colleges